I was on a 2011 Bordeaux Index tour of Bolgheri and Montalcino when a Twitter friend (yes, I too used to be on that platform) Laura Rose-Gray, then General Manager of boutique Brunello di Montalcino winery Il Palazzone, reached out to invite me to visit the winery. By this time we had completed our visits in Montalcino and were well on our way to Florence so I regretfully declined and promised that I would do so the next time that I was in the area.
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| The author with Laura Rose-Gray in Perugia |
And thus began a long and fruitful (for me) online relationship. Laura was critical to my writings on Brunello di Montalcino by providing insights into trends, movers and shakers, and appellation and terroir issues. My writings in this area would have been fewer, and of lesser quality, if I had not had the good fortune of crossing virtual paths with her. I did eventually visit the estate but, a few days before my arrival, Laura's son fell ill and she had to be away. Her good friend Esther Juergens hosted me on the trip in her stead.
Il Palazzone had been owned since 2000 by the former Time Warner Executive Richard Parsons. He elevated Laura to GM in 2008. He sold the business in 2021 and the new owners wanted to be more active in running the place so Laura moved on (My Montalcino output has not recovered to this day). She first wrote the book that had been struggling for years to get out (The Magpie's Guide to Montalcino) and then spent a fair amount of time on promotional tours. She also began doing consulting work which drew on her winery experience and expertise.
Shortly after Richard Parsons bought Il Palazzone (2002, to be exact), Laura's father, Martin Gray, Head of the Department of English Studies at the University of Stirling, founded Learn Italy: "a small British company based in Oxford, offering study holidays that combine relaxation with learning" with a focus on Italy. Martin has, through the years, encouraged Laura to become involved in the business. She had an excuse: she was busy running Il Palazzone. Well she no longer had that excuse so she is helping run Learn Italy "navigating the organizational aspects, and accompanying most trips."
I was unaware of this aspect of Laura's life until she commented on one of my many online art posts. In the ensuing discussion I found out about her interest in art, the fact that she had just completed a Renaissance art course, and her involvement with Learn Italy. I requested a catalog and, upon receipt, immediately homed in on the "In the Footsteps of Piero della Francesca" offering which promised "Visits to find his paintings in Arezzo, Sanseplocro, Urbino, Perugia, and Monterchi." I was in.
Learn Italy did an awesome job of prepping us for the tour, including providing us with a list of material to read ahead of time.
In addition, I pursued other sources of information. For example I watched a number of You Tube videos including:
- In the Footseps of Piero della Francesca, Muscarelle Museum of Art
- Piero della Francesca: A quiet revolutionary, National Gallery
- Frick Collection Lectures around its 2013 Piero della Francesca exhibition.
In addition to the above I sought out Piero della Francesca holdings in museums for deeper study. I began with the Frick holdings.
The Augustinian Altarpiece
I encountered their Piero della Francesca pieces on my visit to the re-opening of the Frick Collection. Further investigation showed that the institution had hosted an exhibition of 7 of the pieces of the Augustinian Altarpiece — six of which are based in the US — in 2013 and I dove into the archives to study the work done around that exhibition.
In 1454, Angelo di Giovanni di Simone d'Angelo commissioned a polyptych from Piero della Francesca for the High Altar of St Agostino in Borgo Sansepolchro. The polyptych was intended to fulfill the wishes of his late brother Simone and his widow Giovanna to procure spiritual benefits for the donor and his forbears.
The structural framework of the altarpiece had a history prior to Piero's storied work. The Franciscans had had the structure built in the early 1430s to support paintings by Antonio d'Anghari and Piero had worked with him to gesso the piece. The effort was abandoned after the Franciscans hired Sassetta to do the work instead.
In 1451 the Franciscans sold the framework to Angelo Giovanni di Simone. It was more than 40 years old when Piero began working on it as the mainstay of the Augustinian High Altar. The piece was completed in 1469 and served as the High Altar until it was disassembled in 1555 when the Augustinians moved. The 30 panels were dispersed, with eight currently housed in institutions in Europe and the US.
Previous attempts have been made to unite the surviving pieces. The most successful, prior to the Poldi Pozzoli effort, was the Frick exhibition which displayed all of the pieces with the exception of the Poldi holding. When the Frick announced its pending closure for renovation, Poldi Pozzoli reached out to that institution and other holders with hosting requests. Those requests were granted and the pieces were reunited in an exhibition at Poldi Pozzi that ran from March 20 to June 24, 2024.
Baptism of Christ
I encountered Baptism of Christ at the National Gallery. The analysis included on the chart below draws heavily on the museum’s write-ups plus associated lectures.
Armed with the above, we launched into the program. I will report on same in upcoming posts.
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